Reunions Never Change
by rko-luver
Summary: five years have passed since the war, and Hermione and the rest of the wizarding world have started rebuilding their lives. Hermione has bought Flourish and Blotts and is looking for help around the shop, only to find an unlikely friend.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I wouldn't be posting on a fanfic website

The unsettling quiet that had settled over Britain after Voldemort's defeat had taken weeks to abate, and it would take generations for the true impact of the events of that terrifying time to be fully realized. Grandchildren would be told of the days when London's magical world was on its knees, trembling with fear, and everyone who was alive could remember where they were when they found out about Voldemort's defeat. For those few that had been present for the final fight, it was an end, and a beginning. The project now was to rebuild, structures, relationships, lives.

Though hundreds of families had been directly affected by the war, there were a select few that felt the repercussions far more than any others. None were more affected than the so called "golden trio." For Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter, the hunt for Voldemort had been the focus of their lives for seven years. One of Ron's older brothers was dead, along with several friends, and now they were all faced with the question, what now? The wounded that were able to be moved were transported to St. Mungo's, and those that weren't were levitated to a temporary hospital setting in what had been the Quidditch field. Madame Pomfrey, along with the assistance of several other medical professionals from St. Mungo's were attending to the seriously injured, and notifying families of the dead. With the wounded moved the daunting task of repairing Hogwarts castle began. With several people from both sides unaccounted for, those helping clear the rubble did so with extreme caution, praying not to find another body. During the removal, the bodies of Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov, and Augustus Rookwood were found, as well as those of several Hogwarts house elves who had been trapped in the kitchens. Harry had brought them to the body of Snape, who, along with all of the other order members and Hogwarts students, was given a posthumous Order of Merlin First Class for their contributions to the wizarding world.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also given the Order of Merlin First Class, and received honorary N.E.W.T.S. for their service to the school and wizard kind. Many wished for Harry to run for Minister of Magic, but all he wanted was to move on. Like Dumbledore before him, he refused the position, and instead retired back to the Burrow with the Weasley's, hoping to figure out what he wanted to do now. Hermione had gone down to Australia to find her parents and remove the memory charm that had been placed on them. The trip took weeks, as she did not know where in Australia they lived, but the rift in trust caused by the charm lasted decades. Though her parents understood her reasons, knowing that their daughter had used magic on them deeply damaged their relationship with her. Though they hid it well, Hermione saw them flinch whenever she drew her wand, or whenever she mentioned the magical world. Where before they had been proud of her, now they were afraid. Though she loved her parents deeply, she could not leave what had become her world, even for their security. With this in mind, she did one of the few selfish things she had done in her life, she left.

She lived with Harry and the Weasley's for a few months at the Burrow, and despite Ron's declarations of love, they all knew that this was only temporary. Kingsley Shacklebolt, after Harry's refusal of the position, became the full-time Minister of Magic, and offered both Ron and Harry positions as Aurors. The two accepted, and though Hermione was also offered a position in the ministry, she declined. Hermione, like Harry and Ron, wanted to retreat from her fame, and return to a semblance of normalcy, and felt that she would not be able to do this within the Ministry. She chose instead to purchase Flourish and Blotts from its previous owner with money she had saved up during her school years. As Diagon Alley slowly began to return to its former self, with a few deeply felt absences, Hermione finally felt things beginning to settle.

She lived with Crookshanks in the small flat above the shop, occasionally accompanied by visitors. In the five years that had passed since the battle, Neville had been taken on as an apprentice professor to Professor Sprout, Harry and Ron had finished their Auror training, and Harry and Ginny had finally gotten married and were expecting their first child. Ron avoided her at first after her refusal, but had eventually come around, after much scolding from his mother.

Hermione was generally happy with her life, it was not exactly what she would have initially envisioned for herself, but that didn't matter to her. George came to visit her shop often, always smuggling in some new product or another. Though he put on a good show of being back to his old self, you could sense that he had not fully recovered from the loss of Fred, and maybe never would. Ginny also came by often, despite the distance from Grimauld Place. Ron and the rest of the Weasleys stopped by when they were in London, but for the most part, Hermione had the shop to herself.

She managed the shop quite well on her own, though some parts were certainly tedious. As more and more shipments of school books arrived in preparation for the coming Hogwarts school year, the first since the battle, Hermione finally, and begrudgingly, admitted that she would need help in the shop for at least the next couple of months. She drew up a "help wanted" sign, and placed it in the window, assuming that some bookish student such as herself would want to apply for extra school money.

As she was sorting the newest shipment of potions manuals, she heard the bell above the door chime, and stood up from her crouch in the back room to go assist her customer. Walking into the shop from a door behind a bookcase, she greeted the newcomer, "hello, welcome to Flourish and Blotts, how may I help you?"

"Well Granger, you can help me by giving me a job," stated an all too familiar blonde figure that she had planned on never seeing again, his voice as smug as ever.

A/N : My Beta hasn't finished going over this for me, but I was excited about this story so I posted anyway, please review with any errors you find, thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all for the support, as with the last chapter, my beta has not yet finished it, but I was so encouraged by the reviews I got that I decided to write and post anyway. Due to the fact that my beta has not finished with the chapter, if you could report to me any errors you find, or suggestions, I would be very thankful.

Hermione froze, every muscle in her body tensing at the exact same moment. She stood there, silent, eyes wide, staring at a man she had thought, hoped, she would never see again. Though she knew that he was not responsible for Dumbledore's death, he was still the person who had made her life hell for six years, and was the son of a Death Eater. There he was, standing not ten feet from her, holding her help wanted sign, still looking arrogant. The last time she had seen him, he had been far from arrogant, he had been defeated, and dangerous. Reflexively she took a small step back from him, glad that her wand was in her hair holding it into a relaxed knot.

"What's wrong Granger? Thought you were rid of me?" Draco smirked, shifting his weight from one black pant-clad leg to the other, crossing his arms in front of his chest, still holding the help wanted sign.

"Get. Out." Hermione remembered herself, and where before there had been confusion, and even fear, now there was rage. She pulled her wand from her hair, taking a defensive posture as her hair fell around her shoulders. She was not going to give him a chance to attack, to do anything.

Draco raised his hands, a mocking smile gracing his pale face, "calm down Granger, I'm not here to hurt you, promise."

"I don't take promises from people like you." Hermione glared, her brown eyes focused on her target.

"People like me…" Draco looked away from her, and for a moment, she thought she saw something flash in his eyes, something that almost looked like pain. As soon as she saw it, it was gone, and his defiant stare returned. He looked thinner then when she had last seen him, even through his black slacks and white dress shirt she could see that much. He seemed paler, if that was possible. Where before his skin had been fair, now it was gaunt, nearly colorless, his face gaunt. "You don't know me Granger, never have. So do you have a job opening, or not?"

She lowered her wand, unsure. "What do you want Malfoy?" Her wand hand by her side she stared at him, her eyes narrowed, not in anger, but confusion.

Draco rolled his eyes and leaned against the nearest bookshelf, "dear Merlin Granger, I thought you were smart. Since you do not seem to comprehend I will try again. I…need…a…job. Need me to repeat that?"

Hermione placed her wand in her pocket, her confusion overcome by annoyance. "I heard you Malfoy, what I don't understand is why? Don't you have plenty of money left over from _daddy_," she spit the word, the very thought of the elder Malfoy leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

"For your information Granger, the Ministry took everything when they found his body, money, the mansion, everything. Satisfied?" She opened her mouth to respond, feeling a stab of remorse at the mix of anger and pain in his eyes, but he continued, barely taking a breath. "Oh, and guess what else, I'm sure you'll love this, unlike you, I didn't receive my N.E.W.T.S. so now the only way I can make my living is as a shops worker. I'm sure that just makes your bloody day doesn't it, going to flu right to Weasley and Potter and tell them all about it right? I was bloody stupid to come here, should have known better." He threw the sign to the ground and turned around, punching the end of a bookcase as he passed.

Before she even realized what she was doing she jogged after him, his long strides outpacing her. "Malfoy, Wait! Please I…" He continued out of the shop, storming down Diagon Alley, showing no intention of slowing down. "Draco!" He stopped, his chest heaving, probably more from anger than exertion, his back and arms tense. Slowly she caught up to him, and still he didn't turn around. "Draco, I'm sorry. I-I do need help at the shop, and, if you wanted an interview, I'm free all of this week." She couldn't really say why it was she was doing this, there was definitely no love lost between these two. Maybe it was because now he seemed…human.

Slowly Draco's back and arms relaxed, and he sighed. "Are you free now?"

"Yeah, yeah I am." A part of her screamed 'what are you doing? He just lost it in your shop and you're inviting him back?' But most of her was…intrigued. This was not the bully she had known, this was…and then it struck her, she didn't know who this was. Maybe he was right, that she never had known him. If there was one thing she had learned from the ordeal with her parents, it was that people deserve a second chance.

Slowly he turned, looking at her, his face neutral. She noticed then that he had let his hair grow, so that his bangs rested against his cheeks, and the rest of his hair touched his shoulders. He looked down at the ground for a second before nodding, "alright, I'll do an interview."

She smiled lightly, mostly to lessen the tension, "well, let's head back then." She turned, waiting to see if he was following her, and when she saw that he was she continued back to the shop. When they arrived she looked around, making sure that no customers had come in while she was out. When she heard Draco enter behind her she motioned for him to follow her to the sales counter, and summoned over a chair from one of the corners. She sat behind the counter on a three-legged stool, and wrung her hands in her lap, feeling incredibly awkward.

He appeared to be feeling as uncomfortable as she was and seemed to be closely examining the grain of the wood of the counter. "So, what now?"

A/N: hope it was as good as the last chapter, and don't worry, there's much more to Draco's story. Reviews are always appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Just a warning there is some thematic material that is a bit mature, if that bothers you feel free to skip it.

The awkward tension in the room was palpable. Hermione and Draco looked anywhere and everywhere but at each other. Finally, Hermione cleared her throat and spoke. "The job wouldn't be that difficult. Your basic tasks would include helping me take inventory, cataloguing books and such, helping customers, and taking in shipments of books. With the new Hogwarts year starting I have a lot more books than I can handle by myself. You will be asked to watch the store at times, if I have to go deposit money in Gringotts and when I take my lunch. You would be able to make your own schedule which I would need at least a week in advance. Are there any problems with that?" As she spoke she became more confident, reminding herself that school was long over. This was just a normal person coming in for an interview, nothing more. Whatever had happened in the past should remain there. She was no longer the bushy-haired know-it-all, she had left that girl behind, and she would be damned if he brought her back there.

Despite his calm façade, inside several emotions were warring for control. The most prominent emotion was anger. How could she have been so pretentious as to assume that she knew him? True, in school he had been horrible to her and her friends, and for most of their school life, he had enjoyed it. That night in the ministry when he was fifteen changed everything. When his father was discovered as a death eater and sent to Azkaban, Draco and his mother were left alone. The ministry had frozen their Gringotts vault, allowing no one access until the investigation was complete. They had searched Malfoy Manor, and took him and his mother into the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to be interrogated. Though he had pretended otherwise, this experience was terrifying, but not near as terrifying as what happened when they returned home. The Dark Lord was waiting for them, and he was furious. Not only had the prophecy been destroyed and some of his top death eaters captured, but Dumbledore had been vindicated. The Dark Lord believed that Lucius was the cause of all of this, and wanted his pound of flesh. Draco and his mother were tortured, mentally and physically. Draco was forced to watch as his mother was passed around death eater meetings, used as a common whore. The final torture came just before Draco left for his sixth year of school, when he was given the assignment of killing Dumbledore.

Something had changed in him that summer. He still kept up his arrogant face, but inside he was constantly afraid. Before he had believed the Dark Lord's words, had believed that he was righteous, now he realized how stupid it all was. The Dark Lord was a hypocrite, a vicious murderer, not a great savior. That night, when he was facing down Dumbledore, was the scariest night of his life. He knew Snape would be forced to do it if he could not, that he would be tracked down and killed. Snape was the only adult besides his mother that had ever really cared for him, and he did not what to do that to him. In the end, he couldn't do it. His seventh year had been no better; he had to act as though nothing had changed. If any of the children of the other death eaters suspected that he was less than loyal, the Dark Lord would kill him, and maybe his mother and father.

The war had been a relief, finally it was over. When the Dark Lord was killed, Draco had hoped that things would be different. When word of his father's death reached him and his mother, Narcissa's mind finally fractured. It was hard to tell whether or not Narcissa loved Lucius, it was more the fact that he had defined her life for nearly thirty years. Most of the family fortune had gone into keeping her in St. Mungo's, where she would likely remain for the rest of her life. That was why he needed this job, to continue to pay for his mother's hospitalization.

When he realized that Hermione was staring for him, waiting for his answer he nodded, "yeah, that sounds fine. What would my pay be?"

"Well that depends, the sales money varies week-to week, so you would get 15% of what the store makes every week. Does that sound alright?"

He nodded, "yeah that sounds fine." They sat there quietly for another few moments before Draco raised an eyebrow, keeping up his arrogant front. "Is there anything else you want to ask me?"

There were tons of things she wanted to ask him, including why in the world he needed a low-paying job as opposed to just using the family fortune, but she guessed that none of that really mattered. "There is one more thing that I want to make abundantly clear. If you were to work here you would be my employee. This means that we are not friends, we're not buddies, I stay out of your personal business and you stay out of mine, is that clear?"

"Trust me Granger, that won't be a problem."

"Alright, you start tomorrow, be here by 9 tomorrow morning and I'll get you started."

Draco nodded and stood, turning and walking out into the street. As the door closed behind him, he couldn't help but think that tomorrow was going to be a very interesting day.

A/N: I know it's shorter than the others but that just felt like a good stopping point for today.


End file.
